London Travels

Thank you for the travel bag and materials for our trip to London! We had a fabulous time on the trip!

Here is a photo taken along the River Thames.

St. Croix, US Virgin Islands

To our friends at the Westport Public Library,

We are having a fabulous time in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. We thank you VERY much for putting together all of the resources for us before we left. We enjoyed the video, CD and humorous books.

Isle of Wight, England

Dear Westport Library Kids Travel!!

Thank you for helping us prepare for our trip to England. We love it.

Roma, Italia for springtime fun

April 2007

I am here with my family in Rome, Italy. We have seen the Colisseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, gone biking along the Appian way, and are now at Vatican City. The trip so far has been fun, educational, and pleasant in terms of weather. We have been eating lots of pasta and pizza and will soon have gelato. I will have some for all of you.

Outer Banks, North Carolina

Greetings from North Carolina. It is beautiful here. We have a house half way between Duck and Corrolla to hold lots of family. We visited the Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corrolla. You can climb all the way to the top and see for miles. We also found a really cool skate park for skateboard lovers. It is in a mall on the east side of Route 12 on your way in to Corrolla. It's open 9-8:00 p.m. every day and a pass costs $10.00 for the day. They also will rent you all of the equipment, if you couldn't fit everything into you car when you left home.

Venice in summer

Hello! We are in Italy right now. Venice actually, as you can tell from the front of the card, undoubtedly, that it is lovely. My only con is that it is rather warm here. Hot actually, but that's okay. Oh, and the fact that I didn't bring enough books to read because my bag was too heavy. Venice would be a perfect place to set a murder mystery, I think there's lots of little streets and allyways.

Giverny - Le jardin de Claude Monet

We are having fun in Paris. We saw the Eiffel Tower. We had lunch there. It was a lot of FUN! We went to Monet's garden. It was butyful every flower was in bloom.

We loved Paris and thank you so much for the books. We went to the Cordan Bleu, Monet's garden and Monet's waterlilly paintings. The waterlillys at Monet's garden were still in blume! We also loved the crusats!

Maine wildlife

Thanks so much for the wonderful books you put together for me for my trip to Maine. My mommy reads them to me everynight. I saw seals and porpoises and lobsters! Thank you!

Carnival Victory cruise to Canada

Thank you so much for all of the information on our cruise to Canada. The film was so great about the cruise boat. We were looking forward to a tour of the ship but it was not to be had. St. John's and Halifax were fine if it wasn't so rainy. But we had a great time. The photograph attached is Eliz, Tim and Daniel in their bed on the ship. Eliz and Tim went to storytime years ago at the old Library. Thanks again, Gail, Jim, Elizabeth, Tim and Daniel

Restaurant fun in Cancun, Mexico

The Thai Lounge restaurant located next to the Aquarium in Cancun was a really fun place for our family. We all enjoyed watching the dolphins swim by in the lounge that shares a glass wall with the aquarium next door. We have already recommended it to another Westport family that was travelling to Cancun. It turned out to be one of the kids' favorite spots too!

Travels to Venice, Italy

The photographs are of a Venetian mask and a Murano glass factory.

The bridges of Venice vary from small brick-and-stone arches to the large, grand bridges that cross over the entire canal. A water taxi makes it hard to resist the temptation of turning around and feeling the salt spray on your face while seeing the waves the taxi makes. A water bus has a different feeling, though; it’s slower, and unless you’ve stood on the top, the noise is terrible. A gondola is even slower, though silent and very nice. When you go into the Doge’s Palace, or Palazzo Ducale in Italian, you will see the Golden Staircase, and the Doge’s Apartments, small but grand, with the ceiling decorated with thick gold adornments! You can also see the Bridge of Sighs, a bridge that connects the Doge’s Palace to the prisons. There is also Murano glass – it’s amazing! Every piece of glass there is hand made, with different techniques like “thousand flowers,” where you can put different decals on the glass, or dipping a vase into a different colored glass to make a layered look, or putting gold leaf into the glass. It’s fascinating to watch the glass being made. Starting from sand, it is heated up and molded. If you want to do “thousand flowers,” you roll the big glass on the small glass pieces. The effect is breathtaking. Venice is a very, very nice place to be!

When in Rome...

In Italy, a Westport family traveled around with Melanie Martin from the Westport Public Library's copy of The Diary of Melanie Martin, or , How I Survived Matt the Brat, Michelangelo, and the Leaning Tower of Pizza by Carol Weston.

Florence: magnificent views

When visiting Florence, don't miss the beautiful views from not only Piazzale Michelangelo but also the Basilica San Miniato al Monte that sits just beyond the piazza. It is from this point that one has a breathtaking view of the city below. The basilica has also been described as one of the most beautiful churches in Italy. As you can see from the photograph, even your teenagers will be swept away by the moment! Bella Firenze!!!!

Miss Kitty in El Mitad del Mundo

Miss Kitty at El Mitad del Mundo – The Middle of the World. No, Westport is not the Center of the Universe or the world! While this is the largest monument to the equator in Ecuador, I actually visited three other monuments. Two were old tourist stops and the other was newer and on the scientific side. Did you know that the exact equatorial line shifts over time? Of course with today’s scientific knowledge and instruments the “line” is much more accurate than it was years ago when someone thought to make it a tourist attraction.
http://www.cruisinaltitude.com/cities/mitad_del_mundo_quito_ecuador20010506.htm

Miss Kitty in Ecuador

The giant tortoises at the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos were not interested in anything but their breakfast
on the day we visited! One of the major efforts of the research station is to sustain the existence of these tortoises as well as many other indigenous species. They’re also trying to combat some of the many negative things human habitation of the islands has brought…like wild dogs, goats and rats!
http://www.mnh.si.edu/expeditions/galapagos/

Fun in NYC with grandpa

After our Thanksgiving feast, our family walked off the extra pounds at the MOMA the day after the turkey holiday. We couldn't resist stopping for a lunch break though at the Stage Deli on Seventh Avenue. Here is our grandpa Luchsinger shocked that his portion is so small!!!

http://www.stagedeli.com/index.cfm.

Reading through Venice

Another greeting from a Westport family, this time visiting Venice. They enjoyed reading "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke which they received from the Kids Travel @ Westport Library travel service.

Danielle in Athens

Here is Danielle on the Acropolis in Athens last summer sporting her Kids Travel @ Westport Library backpack. Danielle and her family traveled together last summer after having borrowed materials that were collected for them by the Library staff.

Marineland, Florida fun

Hello from Marineland, Florida! Here is a picture of me with Casique, a young female bottlenose dolphin who lives here. Casique was a tribal name among the Timucuan Indians who once lived here. Marineland was the world's first "oceanarium." It is largely a research and educational institution although it is open to the public for a variety of programs where you can interact with the dolphins. Nice gift shop, too!

Ohio travel suggestions

On a trip through Ohio on the backroads, I recommend The National Road, Route 40. Can't remember all the history, but it is the first cross country highway...I think.
You'll want to stop at the Bicycle Museum in New Bremen, The Neil Armstrong Space Museum in Wapakoneta...and how about Miss Kitty's Dad and sister in New Knoxville! A perk is the peace and quiet - and lack of traffic in the flatlands of Ohio!http://www.route40.net/golden.shtml

Great ice cream in Florence

When it Italy, one must try the ice cream. An inside tip from the Florentines was that Carabe’ had the best granitas in Florence. It is conveniently located one block from the Accademia which of course you will be visiting to see the famous David of Michelangelo. So, when you come out of the museum, take a left. Go straight, passing one side street on the left. Just past this corner, always staying straight, you will find Gelateria Carabe’ ( via Ricasoli, 60r).
Another inside tip, since it is owned by Sicilians, they also make the best cannoli in the back. You need to ask for them though since there is no sign in the shop letting you know they make them! (Now you have saved yourself the trouble of traveling to Sicily for that supreme cannoli!)